Drunk Blames Raspberries For Pushing Him Over Drink Drive Limit

MR Thomas Cook, 69, a former Royal Marine who has palyed for Hibs, maintains that he has been teetotal for five decades and had not been drinking when he was pulled over at the wheel of a taxi. He is, m’lud, the victim of the litre and a half tub of raspberries he had eaten shortly before getting behind the wheel.

When Mr Cook was breathalysed, his reading was comparable to his having drunk ten pints of beer.At Perth Sheriff Court, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis bans Cook driving for 18 months and fines him £800. Says she:

“I find it virtually incredible that a man who is almost 70 and has the experience of life of someone that age can effectively consume the equivalent of two bottles of wine or ten pints of beer in an hour and get into a car unaware their ability to drive is affected. I would have thought it was most unusual that if your account was correct, then when you were stopped by the police officers nothing was said to them. I find it almost impossible to believe that someone consuming that amount of alcohol from any berry compote would not think ‘there’s something a bit funny about this’.”